Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. Sunnyside Valley Irrigation District

Defendant’s irrigation canal broke, sending large quantities of water rushing through a drainage culvert under plaintiff’s railroad tracks. The culvert was inadequate to handle the water, and plaintiff’s railroad tracks were washed away. Plaintiff does not seek to recover on a tort theory, but rather on one or both of two other theories, i.e., constitutional taking and/or indemnification.

The facts were stipulated. In 1913, plaintiff railroad gave a written permit to Yakima County for construction of a culvert under plaintiff’s railroad tracks. The permit contained an indemnification agreement…